Taking Stock ─ Disaster Relief in Haiti

At the end of August 2011, representatives of the Hilti Foundation met with the Board of Directors of Build Change in Port-au-Prince to take stock of the progress achieved since 2010 and to sketch out the way forward.The track record is impressive: So far, 4,000 women and men have been trained to build earthquake-resistant houses. By the end of 2011, more than 5,000 homeowners, contractors and architects will have acquired this know-how and will be able to pass it on to others. Another success story was the cooperation with local brick manufacturers who support the production of better quality bricks. In this project, Build Change has taught workers how to determine the proper mixing ratio of water and cement, how to optimize the drying time and how to carry out quality checks.Going forward, Build Change intends to step up its cooperation with international aid organizations, provide reconstruction training to their staff and/or offer technical advice. In another important step towards sustainable reconstruction over the next few months, Build Change will cooperate with the Haitian government to draft and establish standards for earthquake-resistant construction.